Jokes about the "real message" aside, there is no doubt in my mind that support for Trump is a cult phenomenon.
His followers hear what they want to hear (the "real message"), not what he actually says, and Trump's genius is to keep them on the hook. Historians may eventually consider him to be one of the most successful con men in history.
That, combined with the disinformation, conspiracy theories, propaganda and lies on social media and other outlets is an extraordinary problem.
I completely disagree with the information presented in the opening post here and all accusations made against Donald Trump in the subsequent posts. In the little snippets most people see: the humor, wit, intelligence, and accuracy gets edited out and only mean attacks remain.
We don’t have adequate time for me to go through every example because every single news quote is an attack against Trump. His stance on immigration expects immigrants to follow US immigration laws and be carefully evaluated based on the immigrant’s merits. The floods of immigrants ignoring US immigration laws under the Biden/Harris administration have been harmful to America so much worse than the floods under Obama. In Trump’s speeches, he always focuses on those illegal immigrants who are committing violent crimes and property crimes against Americans during their time in America. For what reason would anyone welcome these people in America and support their continued occupation of America.
Tariffs are another example of completely ignoring Trump’s statements and making him appear to be completely ignorant of the ramifications of his plan. News outlets keep defining tariffs simply as “taxes always passed on to the consumers”. They ignore that tariffs only apply to goods produced elsewhere and apply to those goods as the goods enter into the country where the tariffs exist. Trump’s focus for his presidency is supporting America and Americans first. He wants to support American businesses and the employees of those businesses ahead of foreigners. Reviving American manufacturing being a central element of his agenda. Tariffs will allow American manufacturing to have a fair opportunity to operate and grow. Prices to consumers will not directly reflect the tariffs.
Accusations of racism and sexism will be my final example. Trump is a successful businessman in large part because he expects quality people. In every instance of these accusations, Trump actually refers to the character and merits of the people being discussed. When he is quoted on this, the quotes always drop out the portion describing why he has taken issue against the person(s) and summarizes his statements as racist or sexist.
@jremington and @DaveX
Happy to answer your requests for examples.
Someone is drinking the koolaide.
Look at his record in NY he is a convicted felon.
What about his T-rump university he only beats things by lawyers and dragging it out.
You will see his results in 4 years we will all be worse off.
Good to hear from a cult member and true believer!
as long as you don't need a house to live in
Is this the real message you agree with?
It looks like bs. If an $2 alibaba uno clone has a 100% tariff, its price to consumers will include the tariff and become $4. Any effects on American manufacturing would be second order and minor. How fast is an American company going to move into the $4 uno clone business and make profits? Either way, the consumer still pays $2 more for the clone. Will the market for $4 clones be smaller than for $2 clones? (Yes). Does that make it a growth market to tap into? (No). Same on coffee makers, clothing, cantaloupes, and nearly everything else Walmart sells. Tariffs are a direct tax on consumers, no matter what wishful thinking second-order effects are promised further off in the future.
It's WAY worse than that!
Deja Vu from 1930 after the market crash of 1929 that dispossessed many 1000's of American farmers who lost their years earnings to banks closing right after putting their harvest earnings and being told "it's gone, too bad". Then the same banks sold (traded) their mortgages to other banks that foreclosed when those farmers had no frikking money as their banks along with the rest kept their money so they hadn't enough to pay. So the banks got their money and then got someone else's farm from the mortgage trade.
Businesses fail and were done the same way. And homes.
And the Hoover admin instituted TARIFFS that completed the ruin and transfer of wealth and land into the hands of the economic elite.
And THEN Democrats got elected and SAVED THE F__KING COUNTRY, BUILT INFRASTRUCTURE, ELECTRIFIED THE COUNTRY AND PUT US ON A FOOTING TO PRODUCE ENOUGH TO TIP WORLD WAR TWO AND DEFEAT FASCISM.
Businesses that use materials with tariffs will CLOSE.
Jobs will be LOST.
More people than before will need assistance that REPUBLICANS will deny them.
That's what Project 2025, who control Trump, want along with a State Religion to control people. That stack of Day One Changes with words Dumb Donnie can't spell in volumes he never wrote came from. It's a GOD DAMNED PLAN. Burn in HELL, GOP!
This happened before. Tuck Frump and his Evil Cult.
He wants to use the military to shoot protesters and his mindless goons support it.
And then he keeps his promise about never having to vote again.
The promise about the cost of living going down? It's too complicated.
The promise about a better healthcare? A conception aborted.
Every promise to make things better? Well, better for whom.
Suckers and losers.
Wrong. Donald Trump’s genius is expressing solidarity and agreement with his target audience. Trump displays the same persuasion as a bulldozer: either people are behind him or in his forward path. There are very few able to ride in the middle. As evidence, I challenge anyone to name just one statement from Donald Trump where he persuaded his supporters to change their prior beliefs to align with Trump’s position.
A Trumpian heads I win, tails you lose challenge. When never did Trump supporters change their beliefs to align with Trump?
Right wing lie-gic.
IF they believed in supporting Trump AND changed THEN they aligned with Trump! Doublespeak Lie-gic!
Somehow 'well written english' was given a different meaning along this thread...
To be honest: this whole situation is very concerning. With america divided in believers and non-believers.
I want to quote a republican lady: " my son(7 years old) asked why we are voting for a bully that is constantly lying. And I cannot explain why.. "
It seems so obvious and simple...
...but we have the same happening here...
...not as bad...
...yet.
So does that mean you were one of the minority who voted to stay?
As the majority thought that we had been ripped off for years, and having to pander to stupid ill thought regulations. We are still being ripped off by them as our version of Trump, the cartoon character Boris, did not understand any detail of what he was doing.
Time to find out who has their fingers up Boris' butt to work his mouth.
And BTW, I'm getting sick of hitting Reply and getting no attribution of who I am replying to. The Old Forum was Better!
He didn't need one, he was/is just a stupid as Trump.
And Trump is a finger puppet.
How did you miss the point of the text you directly quoted? The unprecedented support and success of Donald Trump’s political campaigns comes from him doing something no other candidate in my lifetime has done: telling us what we already know to be true and correct, and then promising to represent us in Washington DC.
According to my own personal experience and my observations of others (both private and public figures), we have had longstanding issues with politicians in Washington DC and desired to elect someone to represent our beliefs and expectations. In 2014, Donald Trump started promising to deliver on those if elected. Not only did he adequately deliver during his first presidency, but promised to go further with our expectations this time. Trump gathered even more support by promising to fix the Biden/Harris disaster.
So, again I repeat my challenge for anyone to find a single instance where Trump supporters looked to Trump for guidance, direction, or opinion.
Trump’s endorsement of certain candidates in the 2022 midterm elections. His supporters often voted for these candidates based on his endorsements, demonstrating that they looked to him for political direction.
How did you miss the cracked logic of the text you wrote?
No wonder you gobble Trump's crap down and say how good it tastes!
" name just one statement from Donald Trump where he persuaded his supporters to change their prior beliefs to align with Trump’s position."
So his supporters already aligned with his gawp would
in a single statement from him
change their beliefs to align with him?
In a single statement no less.
Do you write code that works?
It's obvious that you believe what you're told on Earth 2.
It's cold out today so there's no global warming, right?
Trump's popularity is largely based on his acting as "justifier." He doesn't reveal what his actual beliefs are.
He tells his supporters that it's all right to be insensitive, bigoted, racist because all those people they hate have just been coddled to by the libs to get their votes.
He tells people that it's all right to believe that a person of color, different gender, sexual orientation, can't have gotten that job because they were more qualified but because it was the libs' fault. All the things that haven't gone your way are not your fault. They are the fault of the people you hate and it's perfectly normal to feel that way.
If it's not the libs holding you back, it's the immigrants or it's the gays or it's the transgenders or it's the Hollywood actors or ... it's anyone other than your own shortcomings.
Trump makes it okay to be mediocre and has convinced his supporters that the mediocre will rule the earth.
These are the same people that miss the significance of changes all around them, unable to adjust their expectations outside of the belief-box they live in.
Hello? He knocked a 2T hole in the budget and added 7T to the debt.. was that worth the little period of more we got? NO, we should have gotten much more, and they'd see it if they weren't the kind of superficial stooges that talk of how war is good for the economy.
They haven't figured out how they and Trump made the impact of the pandemic here multiply worse in every way.
Not you Emily, or over half of America, just the ones fooled by the conman through appeals to egotism, greed and ignorance.